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Monthly Archives: January 2014

Hay girl haaaaay another Wed/Thurs whambam week! I’m not feeling as sore the day after WODs anymore, which is really exciting. Slowly ramping up has been great, although I think today’s WOD just crushed the chances of getting in there tomorrow. We’ll see. I have a long evening of foam rolling and a hot epsom salt bath between now and then, so things still have the potential to change!

Strength:

Clean and Jerk 3-3-3-3-3: 85-85-85-85-85. Previously my 3-3-3 PR was 90lbs and I strugggggled for that, and today the 5 sets of 3 were totally manageable at only slightly below that. I’m fighting off a cold so I’m feeling slightly run down, but I was still hitting pretty solid form on my last set so that’s a good sign.

Oh and hey look, a video! The final rep of my last set.

WOD for Cals+Reps: 120, Rx.

5 Rounds of:

1 Minute Row (cal): Rx.

Rest 1 Minute

1 Minute AMRAP 5 Toes to Bar + 10 Air squats: Rx.

Rest 1 Minute

Score is row calories plus total TTB. Squats are not counted in the score.

This was miserableeeeee. I went out way too hard in the beginning, and after the second row my hamstring on my right leg locked up. This has happened in the past, but when I’m rowing regularly it doesn’t happen as frequently. I don’t think I’ve rowed in at least a month, so I almost went into this expecting it. I took round 3 easier and then slowly climbed back up. I could NOT stay on the pull-up bar to save my life today. I was barely getting 3 TTB strung together. I really need to work on my grip strength for hanging stuff, because I am strong enough in the body to handle more reps, but my hands just can’t take it and I’m constantly slightly scared of flying off the bar and breaking my life again. My splits went: 1: 17-10, 2: 16-8, 3: 12-10, 4: 13-10 5: 14-10. This was not in my wheelhouse at all, but my goal going into it was to hit 10 TTB per round and at least 13 cals per round, so I pretty much did that, minus the meltdown following the hamstring lockup in the rowing of round 2. This has been a tough week! I feel strong as all get out.

I’ve found the key to blog success: post more pole dancing photos. I got more hits in the last 48 hours than I’ve had in a long time! I suppose that is due to the fact that I don’t openly talk about it, so when a picture of me on a pole pops up on facebook, it surprises people, and they click. Note to self…don’t friend any current/past professors after graduating….ha! I’m joining a class this coming Sunday, so I’ll have more pictures. Now I just need to convince myself to start filming my strength stuff at crossfit!

Strength:

Snatch 5-5-5-5: 60-60-60-60. I’m going to be staying here for a while. My speed under the bar just isn’t fast enough following my triple extension. These felt better today, but I still am very uncomfortable dropping lower than about a quarter squat to catch anything over 35lbs. Maybe I should work on that next week.

WOD for Reps: 120

5 Rounds of:

30 Seconds Thrusters: 55lbs, Level II.

30 Seconds Box Jumps: 20″, Rx.

Rest 1 Minute

Followed by 1 Round of:

1 Minute Thrusters: 55lbs, Level II.

1 Minute Box Jumps: 20″, Rx.

My rounds went like this–1: 10-11, 2: 10-11, 3: 9-10, 4: 9-7, 5: 8-8, Bonus: 11-16. Well, that escalated (or rather, the exact opposite of escalating…de-escalated? Ha.) quickly. Before we started, I saw that three of the amazingly strong women I look up to in the box were doing the Level II weight of 55lbs. I asked Erika if I should drop down to the Level I weight, because they’re so much stronger than me and it worried me…which was weird, because I felt like 55lbs was do-able, but they got me doubting myself. She said that I will be totally fine at 55lbs, and that the other girls were dogging it, which made me laugh. I just needed a little reassurance. My goal was to stay at an average of 20/round, but I realized at the end of the 3rd when I was already dying that that goal was slightly out of reach. When rounds 4 & 5 beat me down, and the bonus round kicked me in my ribs. But honestly, I was only between 10 and 18 reps below the beasty girls, which only averages out to a few reps/round, so I am pretty damn happy about that. I was in my head a lot on the thrusters, but I went unbroken until rounds 5 and 6, which surprised me in a good way. But I feel like I’m going to need a wheelchair for the next day or so…shakiest legs.

Today was a mix of epic awesomeness, and epic stupidness. But the WOD…the WOD was absolutely incredible. INCREDIBLE. EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS WORKOUT. YES. I can’t stop being so excited about it. Also, this past weekend I started pole dancing again!! Which is so great!!! But that was also the part of today that was epic suck. I think I want to write a whole different post about it. Maybe tomorrow. But for now, baby’s still got it!

Strength:

Complete these at a good tempo, meaning do not take breaks at the top of the squat. Expect to be squatting at a lower weight than usual.

Front Squat 5-5-5-5-5: 75-75-75-75-75(-maybe another set? Lost count!). These felt good. I might have been able to do sets at 85 if I started there, but I didn’t think to go up until I was already pretty gassed. I think my previous 1RM front squat was 95lbs, so I am pretty sure I could beast through that now.

WOD for Time: 15:58

15 Burpees: Rx.

20 Snatches: 35lbs, Level I.

Rest 2 Minutes

15 Burpees: Rx.

15 Snatches: 45lbs, Level I.

Rest 2 Minutes

15 Burpees: Rx.

10 Snatches: 55lbs, Level I.

Rest 2 Minutes

15 Burpees: Rx.

5 Snatches: 65lbs, Level I.

Add/switch weights during your rest time.

This was so great. Let me tell you about why this was so great. First of all, I’m pretty sure I can count the total amount of reps on one hand of snatches I’ve done at any weight above 55lbs. I saw this online last night and said to Tyler, “I’m going to Level I the shit out of this WOD tomorrow.” And going into it, honestly, I doubted myself about being able to finish at 65lbs. But I stuck with it, and executed each rep as textbook as I could, and they were beautiful. Guys, every one of my snatches was beautiful. It was the BEST. The 35 and 45 sets were…probably easier than they should have been, but I just used those to really focus on the form cues that the coach gave me last week, and that helped me be able to do all 55s and the 65s in the long run anyway. But I was so stoked. It felt absolutely incredible. I am so proud of how I did, and for sticking with it, and for killing those last 5 snatches at what is a heavy weight for me when I’m already completely blown from the rest of the workout. I’m also extremely happy I can still bust out some of my difficult tricks on the pole, even though I have definitely lost some of my abilities. Again, I think I’ll write a whole post about that tomorrow. Woo!

What is this tom-foolery!? Not one, but two mid-week WODs?! Who AM I. This semester is setting up to be a great one. None of my classes hold me back from being able to go to either the 930 or 430 WODs throughout the entire week, so I am free to WOD as much as I want. Now it’s just going to be a matter of balancing the workload on top as well. But right now, things are looking up! Woo!

Strength:

Clean and Jerk 5-5-5-5: 65-65-65-65. Man, sets of 5 are rough! On the last set I wasn’t sure if I was going to hit the jerk every time, so every rep I dropped from the top in order to save my shoulders. Whew. But I used the help I got yesterday on my snatch setup today as well, and was able to deliver way more explosive power from my hips than previously. Erika seemed impressed with my form, especially since I have missed the c&j strength days for about a month now.

WOD for Reps: 91

7 Rounds of:

In 1 Minute, complete:

3 Chest-to-Bar Pull-Ups: Level II.

Max Number of Burpees in Remaining Time: Rx.

Rest 1 Minute.

Score is total number of burpees.

This was a really neat and different WOD. I like burpees, for how terrible they are, and I really enjoyed this one. My burpees went 12-12-13-13-12-14-15. In the rounds of 13 and 14 burpees I was able to do the C2B’s unbroken, which gave me a time edge, but in the rounds of 12 and somehow in the round of 15 I did 2-1. I don’t know how I managed to squeeze in 15 in the final round, but I’m assuming it had to do with unloading everything left in the tank. Also, I did…phantom chest-to-bar pull-ups? I didn’t quite make contact every time, but I kipped much harder and higher than I would with regular pull-ups. I am not fully comfortable throwing my chest at the bar to make contact yet, but I was so close. I am counting them for me, since this was a huge improvement on regular pull-ups, and took much more work.

Now…let’s see if I can get myself in there tomorrow as well. 3 days in a row. That will be a feat of epic proportions. Maybe I’ll even get on a 3 days on, 1 day off schedule this semester. That would be wild. Oh, and today’s my Dad’s birthday! Happy birthday, Dad!

Finally getting back to the elusive mid-week WOD!! How I’ve missed you so. My schedule this semester ended up changing, and I am not going to have to miss Mondays/Wednesdays afterall! Squats and oly lifts galore!! I was sore today, but was determined to get in there for my first Wednesday WOD of the year. Ugh, three weeks into January!!! Whatever, I did it! Time to solidify a good foundation for the rest of the year. I’ve been seeing more progress again, especially after cutting back on crap eating this month and it’s the best motivation to keep going. Look at my traps! Look at them!!!! Ahhh!

Strength:

Power Snatch 5-5-5-5: 60-60-60-60. Haven’t snatched in forever, so this was mainly an exercise in confidence, and testing muscle memory. I was popping my hips up too fast, which was causing me to bend my elbows early in the end of the triple extension, but I think I’ve corrected that. The coach complemented my “great olympic-looking setup” which was the highlight of everything. It’ll be interesting to see if they change Wednesdays to snatch days, since it’s usually clean&jerk, jerk, push press, or strict press.

WOD for Rounds+Reps: 4+4, Rx!

AMRAP in 12 Minutes of:

20 Box Jumps: 20″, Rx.

15 American Kettlebell Swings: 35lbs, Rx.

10 Kettlebell Goblet Lunges: 35lbs, Rx.

I love Rx-ing WODs. The box jumps completely killed my time. If it had been 15ish, I would have been able to smoke myself and get at least another round+ in, but 20 is just a lot of anything. The KB swings were cake, but the lunges made my already-burning calves even worse. I am happy (well, maybe happy isn’t the right word…) they are programming more lunges lately, because for some reason I am just horrible at them. Seriously, I look like a baby horse taking its first few steps on every single rep. It’s pitiful. But hey, what I lack in stability I make up for with heart and motivation to push through, and that’s what matters…right? Right guys?

Oof. Extra sore from Friday still. I didn’t want to not be able to get in today, so I sacrificed my planned Sunday workout. Baby steps. Baby steps back to 4x. It’s a marathon not a sprint!

Strength:

Overhead Squat 5-5-5-5: 55-55-55-55. The last round was rough. I had to stop at the top of each rep and rebalance myself. My descents were slower than they should have been on that round, which was extremely taxing. Oh, and my wrists felt like death.

WOD for Rounds+Reps: 6.

AMRAP in 15 Minutes of:

5 Power Cleans: 85lbs, Level II-, Level II was 95lbs. I was barely catching 85 after those wallballs, so I’m glad I went lighter.

10 Hand-Release Push-Ups: Rx-, dropped to knees for last two rounds.

15 Wallballs: 8lbs to 10′ target, Level II.

This was a gutter. 15 minutes! And I felt every single minute of those 15. I did a lot of shaking out my shoulders and sucking wind, but overall I’m pleased. I pushed myself pretty hard here. Tweaked my knee on my first rep of wallballs, but it’s feeling better now so hopefully that won’t be a recurring issue!

Classes start next week! Back to a regular, structured schedule! Partially excited, partially upset. I am reallllly going to try to get in there on Sunday, but I’m so bad at getting into the box on weekends. That needs to change!! Starting this week!

Strength:

Back squat 15-15 (Must complete sets in less than 1 Minute): 85-85. My back still felt tweaky from deadlifting 200lbs on Monday (gosh I just like saying that so much) so I didn’t want to go too much heavier. As it is, Erika wanted us to stick at about 50% of our 1RM, and this was still about 7ish pounds over that. But it felt really good! I’m so bad at muscle endurance, so this was a welcome challenge.

WOD for Time: 11:27

5 Rounds of:

20 Double Unders: Level II.

20 Sit-Ups: Rx.

10 Front Rack Lunges: 45lbs, Level I-.

5 Push-ups: Level I.

This was a crusher. I hate 5 round-ers, and lunges. I backed pretty light on the lunges, and I’m glad I did. I really need to work on them. I am so weak with them, and compared to my front and back squat numbers, I should be doing more than I’m able to. Need to work on this weakness, badly! Double-unders were cake, although I just didn’t have it in me to do the extra 10 for Rx every round. The sit-ups were fine, but taxing. Definitely feeling them now, which is weird, because I’m not usually bothered by them. Rx and Level II were 5 HSPUs and 3 HSPUs, respectively, and I tried to do the first one in the first round, and my shoulders just gave out. Very tired today. Oh well. Next time!

Ahhhhhhh. My love/hate relationship with the CrossFit Total. Up until now, I’ve had constant progress. I’m starting to plateau a little, especially since I haven’t been super consistent over the winter. Time to step it up. I want to build back up to 4x a week, plus supplementary stuff at a non-box, but my body has been having a hard time with recovery, so I really need to build up slowly. Ugh CFT. So nervous going into this. Remember: you took December lightly. Remember: you are still healing your ears. Remember: you are not defined by PRs, only how much work you put in. UGH. Bad mental state to go into this!!!

The CrossFit Total is the sum of the best of three attempts at the squat, the press, and the deadlift. Lifts must be done in that order. Once you warm up, you will have only three attempts to set a 1RM in each lift.

Strategy on the CFT from Mark Rippetoe (inventor of the CFT): The first attempt would be a weight you know you can do for a heavy set of three. The second attempt would be a weight you know without any doubt that you could do for a single, having just done the first attempt. And the third attempt is the weight you want to do, based on your performance on the previous two attempts. If you have made a mistake setting your first attempt, the next two will need to be adjusted, but you should know what you can triple, and this will always be a safe first attempt. And since you know this weight, you know what weights to use to warm up for it: you’ll use the lightest weight that you normally start with for your first warm-up when you train, and 90% of the first attempt for the last warm-up, with either three or four relatively even increments in between these two.

I have the most mixed feelings on this! But I’m mostly happy, I think. I pulled 200-freaking-pounds for my deadlift, which was one of my specific CrossFit goals for this year!!!!! I can’t believe it!!!! It also felt really good, and like I probably could have gone heavier, but I had maxed out my 3 attempts, and I was starting to round in my back so I didn’t want to push it too much harder. For the back squat, the 160 fail was soooo close. It didn’t honestly feel that heavy, and I was in a good angry brain state to push it, but my torso tipped forward just slightly right as I was exploding out of the bottom and it completely threw me off and I had to ditch the weight. New goals!!! 175 next CFT! And as usual, strict press was the worrrrst and makes me feel like a complete weenie. The rep at 60 felt great and I was sure that I’d be able to put on two more measley pounds, but nope. Pretty wild, since I feel like my shoulders, out of everything, have gotten so much stronger. Meh. It is what it is! That puts me smack between intermediate and advanced on the chart that’s up there. Woop! Hoping to break into advanced next CFT!

Oof! Really wanted to go to the morning class, but I just couldn’t get out of bed in time. Ended up hanging out with a friend for the afternoon and planning a trip to NYC for Wednesday. Back in my younger years I had my earlobes stretched to about an inch. Now, since I’m going to start interviewing for jobs since I’m graduating in May, I’m thinking it’s time to get them surgically repaired. I haven’t worn larger jewelry in them in yeaaaaaaars, so I figure now is as good a time as any! Also, in this picture, you can see my itty bitty baby traps (and power clean bruises from Friday)! I’m so excited! Plus my lobes. My body is in constant evolution, always will be, and I love that.

Strength:

Back Squat 1-1-1: 135-140-145. This is great. This is soooooooo great! I’ve been feeling “eh” about my squatting the last two weeks because I felt like I had lost a ton of strength through December. But I felt pretty good today, and decided to go for it. Last time we did the CrossFit Total I hit 155 as my 1RM back squat. I was worried that I wasn’t going to get up to that for my next 1RM, but now I’m pretty confident that I’ll be able to at least tie it! Woo! Need to get the heck out of my head when I squat and just DO IT. Shut up and SQUAT.

WOD for Time: 11:17

5 Rounds of:

4 Power Snatches: 42lbs, Level I.

6 Overhead Squats: 42lbs, Level I.

8 GHDs: Injury Reserve, (Rx was 8 toes-to-bar) hands still healing from the tears on the toes-to-bars & pull-ups on Friday.

10 Box Jumps: 20″, Rx.

Whew. I’m really trying to be smart after taking December off. I started with 55lbs (Level II) for the power snatches and OHSs, but after the first round, I dropped down. I didn’t want to have another meltdown, and my wrists were already killing me, so I dropped the weight. The snatches weren’t bad, but the OHSs were killer. I’m proud of myself for backing off though, which is awesome. I have been pushing myself a little too hard during the WODs, and it’s just a matter of time before I really screw myself over.

Welcome, 2014! This year is going to be better than 2k(unlucky)13. 2013 definitely had some great moments, but there was a lot of heartbreak, loss, and hardships had by all. I guess this is true of every year, but for some reason it really hit me hard in 2013. Here’s to a much better 2014 of making things happen, BIG changes, new steps in life, and a new me (holla, engineering graduate!!!!!). Also, cheers to starting another new year of being committed to my health and fitness, no matter the challenges. Hopefully this year will be injury-free!!

With that being said, here is my list of 14 goals for 2014!

Buy less coffee/make more coffee at home. It takes 7 minutes total, the same amount of time it takes to stop on the way to school. It costs on average about $3/cup at Starbucks depending on the drink (usually just black coffee, but sometimes froo-froo sugary shit…another reason to stop going). At home? Less than 30 cents a cup. If absolutely necessary, only black coffee from Sbux.

Stop eating at so many restaurants so much. They aren’t even special anymore. I want the excitement (and the money…and my body…) back. I stray from my desired dietary choices when I’m out, and that’s bad.

Speaking of, get my freaking will-power back. What happened to the girl who nixed ALL GRAINS for like 5 months, and most alcohol, and almost all refined sugars, and all sodas?! Could I do that at my current state? Hell-to-the-no, especially all at once. Rediscover that drive and dedication. I will not let school absorb ALL of my motivation and dedication.

Travel to a new country. Tops of the list? Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Thailand, Russia. Backpack, sleep in group hostels, take the trains, figure out public transportation systems in languages I don’t understand, walk miles and miles per day to see things that I really want to see. At the very least, check out a couple new states in the US. Get tattooed in far-away places.

Graduate in May(!!!!!!!!!!)/secure a job(!!!!!!!). Don’t settle for a sub-par salary. No unpaid internships/co-ops. No positions that require a degree less than what I have. I know this sounds pretentious, but I have worked so hard to get to where I am now, and I refuse to settle. The jobs are there, it’s just a matter of getting in.

Take more baths. Buy a bath pillow to enjoy them even more. Spend time reading in the tub by candlelight. Read more, period.

Find an adult dog companion for my dog, and add her/him to our furry family. Support Tyler in getting a ferret (worst idea) or a bird (even worse idea) or some kind of small animal. Fix the outside balcony so Buns can roam the entire 60 feet, come Spring.

Purchase a new over/under washer/dryer combo. One that doesn’t rip up our clothes. One that will not twist up clothes and wrinkle them to all hell on the spin cycle of the washer.

Have realistic workout goals. Beat previous CrossFit Total, unassisted ring dips, start working towards muscle-ups, stay injury-free (especially while I’m still trying to get health insurance, faaack), cycling more than 4 HSPUs to one ABMAT, get back into pole dancing after more than a year off, ACTUALLY participate in the CrossFit Open this year (February 27th!!!!!!!!!!!!) instead of breaking bones the week before (ugh), bring that will-power and confidence back (as stated in #3) and stop getting so upset with myself when a workout doesn’t go exactly how I planned it to, and use the gym as an escape from reality instead of a burden (never forget the feeling of physically notbeing able to workout and how absolutely horrible it was).

Keep visiting family. I tend to drop off in the middle months of the year, and I refuse to let that happen this year. Built-in bonus, this means visiting Erin, Krystal, and Shaun more!

Take better care of my hair/skin/nails. Make all three look nice more often. Allot time to blowdry hair more often, or to do fancier up-dos instead of my go-to top-knot or messyass bun.

Be a more compassionate friend and partner. Spend less time focusing on loss, and more time on what (and more importantly, who) is still here. Recognize, evaluate and eliminate selfish behaviors. Feel less sorry for myself. Reclaim my inner strength and peace. Stop comparing myself to others.

Take more photos. Maybe attempt to do something artistic. Frame/hang some older work. Frame/hang some new work. Be proud of creating again.

Learn to love the mornings. Get new window treatments (New curtains? Plantation blinds? New rod system?) to aid in waking up earlier. Make full breakfasts more frequently. Cut down on alarms (3-5, normally) and snooze-button use (3+ times per alarm). Take more morning showers. Get in a nice long morning walks with Lady. Try to wake up early enough to spend some early morning time with Tyler (key word: try).